Many types of dispensers have one or more nozzles from which a liquid is discharged onto a substrate. Nozzle designs vary according to the liquid application requirements, but generally a nozzle will have at least one discharge bore oriented at a fixed angle relative to the remainder of the dispensing apparatus. That is, the discharge bore is machined or otherwise formed in the nozzle such that the direction of the liquid discharge cannot be changed once the apparatus is fixed in place. Certain nozzles may have a plurality of discharge bores at different fixed angles relative to the remainder of the apparatus, depending on the liquid application requirements.
Nozzles for dispensing hot melt adhesive, for example, often have bores oriented at fixed angles to enable a specific pattern of adhesive to be applied to the substrate. Accordingly, when a different adhesive pattern is required, one or more nozzles must be replaced with other nozzles having appropriately oriented bores. Thus, dedicated nozzles must be stocked and installed as required by a new application. Changing nozzles to accommodate different application requirements has disadvantages associated with the changeover time and cost. For instance, several different nozzles must be kept on hand to satisfy the changing requirements of each liquid application. Additionally, time must be expended to change from one set of nozzles to another and this changeover time can be significant in large scale operations. Finally, it is not economically practical to manufacture numerous nozzle types and orientations to accommodate every possible need.
To alleviate problems such as those mentioned above, it would be desirable to provide a dispenser, such as a hot melt adhesive dispenser, having a nozzle in which the orientation of the discharge bore may be easily adjusted and locked at a desired angular position.